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Showing posts from October, 2022

Integrating biodiversity for poverty removal still not binding for this UN body

Reacting to a statement of the executive secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity ( CBD ), United Nations, Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, on the occasion of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, which fell on October 17, well-known Thiruvananthapuram-based ecologist S Faizi has objected to the CBD’s plan for “effective integration of biodiversity for poverty eradication”. *** I compliment you for issuing this statement . However, I am disappointed to see that the CBD COP's output on poverty and biodiversity, namely the Chennai Guidance is not even referred to in your statement, particularly so since the 12th COP has asked the Executive Secretary to "continue the work requested by the Conference of the Parties in decisions X/6 and XI/22, for the effective integration of biodiversity for poverty eradication and development, taking into account also the related decisions of the Conference of the Parties at its twelfth meeting" and to promote the Chennai

Critics of Ambani and Adani seem to be more charitable towards Tata and Birla groups

By NS Venkataraman*   The news that Ambani and Adani have emerged as amongst the top rich persons in the world have provoked derisive laughter amongst some political and leftist groups in India. The rapid rise of Ambani and Adani as wealthy industrialists have been mischievously interpreted as an example of widening the gap between rich and poor in India. To add insult to the injury, it is also freely said by the antagonists that Ambani and Adani could become so rich only due to the patronage that they received from the Government of India and from some state governments. What is conspicuous is that none of the critics of Ambani and Adani have recognised their business initiatives, dynamic management approach, capability to identify appropriate investment opportunities, implement their project plans efficiently in time bound manner , competently operating the completed projects and finally their capability to take on international competitors in India and globally. Amban

Feminist Foreign Policy: Robust framework to understand power mechanism in global order

By IMPRI Team  A consultative workshop was organized by IMPRI Impact and Policy Research Institute in collaboration with Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES), India Office on Feminist Foreign Policy (FFP): Exploring India’s Position at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. The workshop began with Dr Simi Mehta giving a brief background of the event, the theme, and the experts for the event. She mentioned that FFP is gaining ground as a result of peacebuilding and peacemaking measures around the world by transnational feminist solidarity. She also said that the concept of FFP provides a robust framework to understand the power mechanism in the current global order. She then opened the floor for expert speakers while setting the agenda of the workshop by placing key aspects of the discussion into which the experts would delve. It included but was not limited to: the core concept of FFP, how inclusive FFP is, women’s role in Indian politics, countering gender-based violence and discrimination,

Why is Govt of India using vaccine download whatsapp account for Cheetah project?

By Rajiv Shah  The WhatsApp Business account created particularly to download vaccine certificate for Covid-19 has sent a strange message. The message said, "Cheetahs reintroduced into Indian wildlife after many decades!  Take part in different activities for the Cheetah Reintroduction Project", then goes on to offer the link telling me to find out how the Cheetah relocation project was progressing. Strange, to say the least. Loving to do propaganda on every issue, spending crores, why the Government of India had to use the WhatsApp account for vaccine certificates for the Cheetah relocation project of all the things?  Difficult to gauge.  The link takes you to the following site:  https://www.mygov.in/home/334741/discuss/ Here is the screenshot:

Chinese rulers' great achievements: Reform, opening up, socialist modernization

By Vijay Prashad, Tings Chak*  The Communist Party of China (CPC) held its 20th National Congress from October 16 to October 22, 2022 . Every five years, the delegates of the CPC’s 96 million members meet to elect its top leaders and to set the future direction for the party. One of the main themes of the congress this year was “rejuvenation” of the country through “ a Chinese path to modernization .” In his report to the congress, Xi Jinping, the CPC’s general secretary, sketched out the way forward to build China “into a modern socialist country.” Most of the Western media commentary about the congress ignored the actual words that were said in Beijing, opting instead to make wild speculations about the deliberations in the party (including about the sudden departure of former Chinese President Hu Jintao from the Great Hall of the People during the closing session of the congress, who left because he was feeling ill). Much could have been gained from listening to what people sa

Why does Bangladesh need urgent Saudi Arab investment in power and energy sector?

By Samina Akhter*  With the aim of increasing bilateral trade and mutual economic cooperation, special attention must be paid to the 'Middle East'. Bangladesh seeks cooperation in at least 12 sectors from the top ten countries of the Arab world or the Middle East to overcome the ongoing power and energy crisis, the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war and the financial loss of the epidemic corona. One of these is the power and energy sector. Maximum emphasis has been placed on easy terms of investment and energy imports from the Middle East in this sector. In addition to this, the government is interested in new manpower exports and product exports to collect remittances, one of the sources of foreign exchange. A meeting of Bangladesh-Saudi Arabia Joint Commission (JC) has been called in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia by the end of this month. Looking ahead to that meeting, Saudi Arabia wanted to know what kind of cooperation Bangladesh wants to increase bilateral trade. The Economic Relati

Nature, climate demand reduced industrial beef production, but banks miss memo

By Hannah Greep  Over the past few years we have seen a wave of “net-zero” commitments being made by banks as they attempt to bring their business in line with the global goal of heading off runaway heating. At last year’s climate COP (COP26) some financial institutions recognised that tackling agricultural commodity-driven deforestation needs to be part of the solution. Most recently, the UN’s Race to Zero Criteria highlighted that reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050 requires halting deforestation at the same time as phasing out all unabated fossil fuel use. Those same criteria also encourage institutions to set targets to reduce methane emissions by at least 34% by 2030, in line with the IPCC’s 6th Assessment report. While it is encouraging to see that halting deforestation and reducing methane emissions are being recognised by some as integral parts of any solution to halt climate breakdown and protect biodiversity, financial institutions are still failing to act on this

UNHRC membership: Recognizing Bangladesh's dedication to upholding human rights

Kamal Uddin Mazumder*  In the recent past, Human rights are perhaps one of the most talked about issues in Bangladesh, nationally and internationally. Bangladesh on October 11 achieved its membership in the United Nations Human Rights Council for the term 2023–2025 with the highest vote from the Asia-Pacific region. In the election, 160 countries among 189 supported Bangladesh’s membership in the United Nations General Assembly in New York, which is an outstanding achievement for the government. It is mentionable, this would be the fifth term of Bangladesh as a member of the 47-member UNHRC. In the previous UNHRC elections, Bangladesh won in 2006, 2009, 2014, and 2018; effectively for all possible terms as per the rules of business of the Council. This achievement is a great honor for Bangladesh as a country, and also a warning of responsibility in the midst of criticism from the United Nations, the United States, and other countries regarding the allegations of disappearances and hu

OPEC Plus nations are unwittingly escalating process of achieving zero emission

By NS Venkataraman*  OPEC Plus, which is a group led by Saudi Arabia and include Russia and other oil exporters in the “Plus” or expanded version, has now announced it’s decision to cut crude oil production to the extent of 2 billion barrel per day .OPEC Plus claims that such cut in oil production is necessary, as the global crude oil price have dropped to about 90 USD per barrel from around 120 USD per barrel three months ago. It is necessary to remind OPEC Plus countries that the price of 90 USD per barrel is not a low price and several buyers of crude oil in a number of developing countries already find it extremely difficult to pay the purchase price of 90 USD per barrel. The attitude of OPEC Plus countries clearly highlight their arrogance that their cartelization of crude oil production, will leave the world with no choice other than succumbing to their price pressure. Obviously, such a decision to cut crude oil production by OPEC Plus countries should be con

Gender inequality in India creating barriers between different healthcare systems

By IMPRI Team Day 1 | June 4, 2022 The three-day Online Certificate Training Programme on the theme “Perspectives on Gender through Healthcare Lens”, a joint initiative of the Centre for Ethics, Yenepoya (Deemed to be University) Mangalore , and Gender Impact Studies Centre at IMPRI Impact and Policy Research Institute, New Delhi, took place on 3 consecutive Saturdays. Inaugurating the session Ms. Souravie Ghimiray, Researcher at IMPRI, welcomed the speakers and participants to the program with an introduction to the eminent panelists. Day 1 of the program included Prof Vibhuti Patel as the course advisor; Dr. Vina Vaswani, Director, Centre for Ethics, Yenepoya, and Dr. Simi Mehta, CEO and Editorial Director, IMPRI as conveners, and eminent training experts Prof Mala Ramanathan, Brinelle D’souza, Dr. Padma Bhate-Deosthali, Sangeeta Rege, Dr. Ketki Ranade, Dr. Amar Jesani, Dr. Aparna Joshi, Renu Khanna, Prof Anita Ghai. The patron for the session was Farhaad Yenepoya, Pro-Chancellor, Ye